Time management and staying in the moment

At the time of this writing, I'm in project finish mode. Like 4 or 5 different projects are finally reaching the point of completion, or at least where my phase in the process comes to an end. I've always found this to be the hardest time to stay motivated to get things done. The artist has already paid (usually), so there's no financial incentive, and, if it's several songs, you've likely been working to the point of fatigue on these tracks and would like nothing more than to be finished.

So how do I keep going and produce the best product I can in a timely manner? It's all about framing perspective. But sometimes you have to trick yourself into having a good attitude, which really hinges on one simple thing: being in the moment!

The old axiom still rings true, it's not the destination, it's the journey. But the journey can be frustrating, especially if you experience ear fatigue and 'mixer brain' as coined by Jeff Ellis. Likewise, most professional mixing engineers and audio editors will tell you to take regular breaks. If you can see yourself making impulsive choices and your mind wishes to be elsewhere, write down where you're at in the mix and come back in a few minutes! I like to grab my bass and bump around for a bit or play something on my Super Nintendo. Come back in like 10 minutes, and it will be a 10 minutes well spent.

Subconsciously, I find my brain sorting out what to do on the mix even while I'm mindlessly doing something else simple. Almost like how your mind collects itself and reorganizes while you're sleeping.

However, all the breaks in the world aren't going to save you if you're disengaged and are just trying to get the process over with. Odds are you won't even want to come back to the mix once you'd stepped away! Step one is to accept that the process will be over when it's over, i.e. when you can think of nothing else, after many listens on different systems and in different mixing sessions, that you can do to improve the mix. And it's only at this point that you should share the mix with clients under the pretense that it's 'official.' Rough mixes are fine, but that should be made clear so they're not concerned about the mix direction. I can't tell you how many times I've made this mistake.

This level of presence is something you carry in from your daily routine and life outside the studio. I hate to say it, but a practice of meditation or some type of mindfulness exercise is wildly helpful! Limiting short form content, drugs and alcohol, and other forms of instant gratification is helpful in making sure you're present when you sit down at the studio desk to track or mix.

So, to recap, come in with presence. Expect to get frustrated or stuck and take regular breaks. Before each break, write down where you're stuck. Let your mind wander (where it will go). Eventually, the cracks that have ran through the door will be mended, and you can start to experiment again with a fresh mind! I should add here that it will be tempting to hit up youtube university for the answer to your problem. More often than not, this will result in more questions than answers. Sometimes, it will even try to sell you on a plugin or some other snakeoil. Don't fall for it. Using the plugins and tools packaged with your DAW is all you should need, and you should do your research to see just how a new plugin will supplement your current arsenal. Odds are, it won't do that much. Sometimes you might need more info on how your default plugins work, so you should start there when doing research! Also, work hard and feel like you've earned something new when you do decide to throw down for something relatively frivolous like AutoAlign or anything from Baby Audio (sorry Baby Audio, your shit is trying to do too much at once. The BA-1 is nice tho).